Simon Osborne, Baxi Group’s Specification Channel Manager:
“Yesterday’s Autumn Statement delivered no real surprises on the energy front. For the average homeowner, a £50 annual saving on energy bills has been promised, showing that the Government is at least trying to reduce the pressure being felt by householders when it comes to paying gas and electricity bills.
Notably, rather than being ‘scrapped’ as was rumoured over the past few weeks, the Government is actually extending the Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) for an additional two years for low income and vulnerable households.
There will also be positive differences for those moving house and for landlords, the former being eligible for a £1,000 grant to spend on energy saving measures, or £4,000 for what the Government calls ‘particularly expensive’ measures, such as renewable technologies. This money will be available to all home movers, including those who don’t pay stamp duty, helping around 180,000 homes over the next three years.
It is not clear yet how exactly this will work; perhaps Energy Performance Certificates could play a role, with a homeowner claiming money back once energy efficiency measures suggested on the survey are carried out – but none of this will be known until the Government finalises the proposals. With boilers being one of the most popular measures under the Green Deal, it could signal good news for the boiler market if boiler upgrades are included as an energy saving measure.
The Government also suggested a scheme to support private landlords who want to increase the energy efficiency of their properties. This is expected to affect around 15,000 properties each year until 2017. Again, until proposals are published it is difficult to say what this will mean for the industry, but boiler upgrades are likely to be central.
Finally, the Government touched upon the Green Deal, with plans to generate more community interest in the scheme. It has been confirmed that funds available to local authorities this year will rise from £20m to £80m, to help support ‘street-by-street’ programmes for hard to treat homes, which is a great approach. This week the Government has also released plans to make the Green Deal scheme easier and clearer to understand, which can only be positive news. However there is no denying the slower than expected uptake of the scheme so far, and with the rate of interest remaining relatively high, it remains to be seen whether the number of agreements will rise in 2014.”
